Friday, March 28, 2008

Before becoming a parent, I wish I had known that the things that I fear myself would be magnified by a thousand percent or more for my children. I knew that having kids would open up a whole new world of fears and phobias, but I never realized how many nights they would keep me awake. It's so much more difficult to manage these anxieties when you know that, ultimately you have no control. I may stay out of the ocean because I'm scared of it, but I can't make my kids do the same. The loss of control makes things terrifying to the Nth degree.

Perhaps if I had realized this earlier I would have done some preemptive therapy!

Monday, March 24, 2008

Right around the time of Lucy's six month check-up she developed a nasty looking diaper rash. We had the pediatrician take a look, and while he wasn't worried, he did suggest trying a few things to help clear it up. First he said to try an over the counter anti-fungal cream, because she had a fungal rash nearby, even though they didn't look that similar. If that didn't work he suggested an over the counter antibiotic ointment. Well, two weeks later she was still all rashy. Luckily we had agreed to try out (that is, I agreed to experiment on their bums in the name of science) a cool diaper cream called Diaper Goop for the Parent Bloggers Network a few weeks before and the package had just arrived!

I opened the first jar and examined the contents. Diaper Goop is a creamy yellow color and a little sticky because it's lanolin based. Which is, um, awesome if you are also a nursing mom like me! Not only can you use it on your baby's bum, but you can use it on dry nipples! I'm not currently suffering from that particular affliction, but I have had some wickedly chapped lips lately, and guess what helped heal those right up? Diaper Goop! They should call this stuff 'Everywhere Goop' because once I started slathering it on myself I couldn't stop. Crusty, winter hidden knees and elbows look fresh and new! My heels are as soft as butter! Flaky cuticles smooth as silk. Both kids currently have colds, and I've been using it under their noses to prevent chapping. Superb!

But how about the bums? Well, unfortunately Lucy's rash was a particularly tenacious bacterial thing that required a prescription, but since we've finished that up I've been using Diaper Goop on her every night as a precaution. And Sammy loves it. He actually asks to have his bum gooped before bed. Well, not so much 'asks' but when I'm putting on his overnight diaper he lifts his legs, points to his nether regions and says, 'Mommy, cream!'

We received a few extra tubs of Diaper Goop to pass along to friends, but I might be tempted to keep them for myself! Thanks PBN!